Head of NGO "Psou" reports attempt of her detention after rally in Sochi

At the railway station "Goryachy Klyuch" (Hot Spring), two men in police uniform tried to get Natalia Kalinovskaya, Chair of the Territorial Public Self-Administration "Psou", off the train. According to Natalia Kalinovskaya, it may be related to her speech on the rally held on December 24 against falsification of the elections to the State Duma.

Natalia Kalinovskaya told the "Caucasian Knot" that on December 26, in Krasnodar, she bought a ticket for the train No. 343, coming ahead to the railway station "Adler". The train was to arrive in Sochi in the morning on December 27.

"When the train stopped at the railway station "Goryachy Klyuch" at 01:00 a.m., I was sleeping soundly. I was awakened by two men in police uniform. They started to demand that I got off the train and followed them. I began asking men in uniform, what was happening and who they are? They replied that I was allegedly put in the federal wanted list since December 6 and that I should go with them," says Natalia.

According to Natalia Kalinovskaya, an attempt to detain her may be connected to her speech at the rally held on December 24 against falsification of the elections to the State Duma. According to her, on that day, she received threatening SMS: "Go away from there", "You have promised us..."

"I raised the noise in the railcar, drew attention of the passengers from my compartment and publicly demanded that the men should present their documents and tell me the reason of my detention," said Natalia Kalinovskaya. "They did not show their IDs and told me their names and positions. One of them was Victor Anatolyevich Kovtun, Senior Police Officer of the railway station "Goryachy Klyuch" of the Trawl and Refrigerated Cargo Fleet for the Southern Federal District (SFD). Another man was R. M. Lysenko, Senior Sergeant of the police guard of the railway station "Goryachy Klyuch".

They also showed Natalia Kalinovskaya the fax, stating that she was put in the federal wanted list since December 6, 2011, without specifying reasons and grounds.

"Understanding that they could not get me off the train, Kovtun and Lysenko demanded my passport. Upon receiving it, they left, saying that they had to make its photocopy. In my turn, I asked them to make a photocopy of the fax, stating that I was put in the wanted list. Several minutes before the train dispatch, Kovtun and Lysenko returned, saying that their copier got broken. They gave me my passport and left the railcar," says Natalia Kalinovskaya, who safely arrived in Sochi today.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent contacted the Krasnodar Line Krasnodar Department of Internal Affairs on Transport (LUVDT), headed by Peter Shevelev, by telephone number indicated in the fax. Shapovalov, a police officer, who refused to mention his position, found it difficult to say whether the police officers Kovtun and Lysenko worked at the railway station "Goryachy Klyuch". He also did not confirm that they sent the fax to the railway station "Goryachy Klyuch" with regard to Natalia Kalinovskaya and the fact that the latter was allegedly put in the federal wanted list.

In the Sochi LUVDT, Arutyunyan, a police officer on duty, said that they had no information that Natalia Kalinovskaya was put in the federal wanted list.

According to Natalia Kalinovskaya, she intends to file appeals to the prosecutor's office on two facts: on the SMS threats during the rally against falsification of the elections in Sochi and on the incident at the railway station "Goryachy Klyuch".